Downtown Los Angeles is a true time machine, and as much as we seen, we never say we've seen it all. Just discovered: a stunning pair of Pre-Columbian figures ushering guests beneath Broadway at the Million Dollar Theatre. Was it a nightclub or a temple? If you know, please tell!

Cruising for new friends in Pershing Square was hungry work, and the boys and girls used to slip away to an exotic place just down Olive called Clifton's Pacific Seas. You'll hear ALL about it on our queer history tour The Run on Saturday, October 18. esotouric.com/event/the-ru...

If you love Charles Bukowski and exploring off the beaten path Los Angeles, our 10/4 tour is for you. Instead of the famous sites, we're bound for his back pages, as a 1950s barfly in the Westlake District, getting into trouble with the real life "Wanda." esotouric.com/event/bukows...

Mayor Karen Bass' City Hall office burglarized?! citizen.com/-O_hVxML6mJ2...

Rev. Dylan Littlefield just returned from Rome, where he had an audience with the Pope and told him about the problems facing our beloved Los Angeles. Back in Westlake, he had Narcan on hand to save a man who was overdosing on the sidewalk. Thanks, padre. www.instagram.com/p/DOw6JTuET61/

Today at 10:30am! Join us on Film Noir / Real Noir, a walking tour that illuminates true crime inspirations and time capsule filming locations. The "Double Indemnity" Easter eggs will blow your mind--like the City Hall racket did Clifford Clinton's house! esotouric.com/event/film-n...

Whoa! L.A. news outlets completely missed the story on the fatal Rosslyn Hotel fire. TikTokker Da'Ron (@da.ron_/) was on the scene when it was blazing out the window and there were NO ALARMS sounding. He screamed to wake residents up. What a hero. And WTF? www.tiktok.com/@da.ron_/vid...

Urban explorer Davy sneaks past the guards to explore the Bradbury Building--including the terrifying flat rooftop overlooking Grand Central Market and the Million Dollar Theater. Tsk tsk! But it is beautiful upstairs and we wish more folks could see it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY4k...

Jamison has listed the Westlake Theatre for sale at $4.5 Million, after getting it for a steal from the CRA in 2018. It's now a swap meet and one of the livelier retail spaces on Alvarado. Tenants are month-to-month, though. www.loopnet.com/Listing/634-...

Don't demo the 1930 Spanish castle at 10621 Wilkins! If a new project is to be built here planning.lacity.gov/pdiscaseinfo... surely this fine home can find a spot to land in Altadena instead of the dump! www.redfin.com/CA/Los-Angel...

Attending NoirCon? Snap a selfie under the marquee or reading the event booklet, then email it to us with the secret code phrase “gimme the cabbage, you dope,” for $10 off on a ticket on our newest tour, Hollywood Noir, debuting on the Saturday, 11/29! esotouric.com/event/hollyw...

The Run! For a century, the phrase was shorthand for going Downtown to find your people--the sexual outlaws who risked arrest or public humiliation just for expressing their true selves. On October 18, join us as their lost world comes alive. esotouric.com/event/the-ru...

Help us get to 250 signatures on the petition to declare Warren Zevon Square in Hollywood! Just six more to go. www.change.org/p/help-us-ho...

Cultural Heritage Commission meeting starting now, with a presentation about proposed restoration of the Coca Cola bottling plant. ens.lacity.org/pln/heritage... Got a beef about some landmark in peril? Make general public comment via Zoom or phone!

Councilmember Curren Price's "no" vote not to landmark 84 Hollywood apartments is now part of the D.A.'s public corruption case. Plus, we'll be honored at NoirCon in Palm Springs and wrote a new Hollywood Noir tour to celebrate esotouric.substack.com/currenprice3

As Karen Bass asks the Governor to veto SB 79 on the grounds that L.A. has a compliant Housing Element, we wonder: did Scott Wiener and other Yimby politicians scam their tech and real estate donors to fund legislation they knew would never become law? larchmontbuzz.com/larchmont-vi...

Efforts to improve electrical service to the historic Hotel Barclay (1897) have stalled repeatedly, keeping truly affordable units offline and making it tough for nearby businesses to survive. Will the Mayor make her recalcitrant departments play ball? laist.com/news/housing...

Demolition happening NOW with no permits and no remediation of lead paint or asbestos in this National Register eligible RSO Craftsman fourplex. Could have gone to Altadena! Could have housed Angelenos. @CD13LosAngeles @MayorOfLA

Somebody call vector control: there's standing water in every hand print of the Porn Block of Fame at the Hustler Store in Hollywood.

New on The Square Log, the blog about the stories behind monument signs in Los Angeles: Eastside Market's cool history revealed. thesquarelog.wordpress.com/2025/09/15/s...

Next Saturday's tour is all shadows, bullets, blondes and saps. Film Noir/Real Noir illuminates filming locations and true crime inspirations, and reveals the very saucy reason Raymond Burr was delighted to be cast in Joseph Losey's remake of "M"! esotouric.com/event/film-n...

On the day Los Angeles City Council considers approving single stair multi-family buildings, with growing opposition from fire fighter unions, we stopped by the Rosslyn Hotel where a person died early this morning when their room caught fire. RIP. cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkc...

Curren Price will be back in court for preliminary hearing on November 3 to hear the D.A."s public corruption charges against him. Block out the week: the whole case of developer cash for City Hall votes will be made.

What a timeline! Will the governor not sign SB79 out of fear of what Spencer Pratt's social media followers will do in response? www.politico.com/news/magazin... It's been a long time since citizens had this kind of impact on Sacramento. Seems intoxicating. www.tiktok.com/@spencerprat...

It's a beautiful day to go down to the courthouse and maybe finally have a date set for councilmember Curren Price's week-long pretrial hearing. And we'll have a lot to say about the red hot allegations in the DA's latest filings, so watch this space. esotouric.substack.com/thepriceisri...

More of this, please! A new semi-public face for an iconic and inaccessible South LA landmark: restoration of Robert Derrah's streamline moderne Coca-Cola bottling plant includes a roof deck for World Cup and Olympics events. drive.google.com/drive/folder...

There's a little snake of a street above Hollywood Boulevard where Warren Zevon used to stay, site of the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel from "Desperados under the Eaves." A sign should go up to honor him. If you agree, please sign the petition to the city! esotouric.substack.com/warrenzevons...

New tour! By popular demand for Thanksgiving weekend, we're launching Hollywood Noir, packed with true crime and cinema classics. Double Indemnity Easter eggs! Clifford Clinton's house bombing! Black Dahlia crash pads! And so much more esotouric.com/event/hollyw...

There have been rumblings for years that radicalized LA City Planning staff put thumbs on the scale for policies opposed by communities and even elected officials. In SF, a senior planning staffer was just photographed sporting a Yimby button! 48hills.org/2025/09/stra...

Save 596 New Hampshire (1915), National Register eligible Craftsman 4-plex. Tenants out via Ellis Act. No new project! Tell CM Hugo Soto-Martinez not to okay demo. If owner has plans, submit them. It could be moved to Altadena. [email protected], 213-473-7013

Drama in TikTok snackland: Final Boss Sour / Science, Inc Complaint — Breach of Contract and Tortious Interference. Allegation by plaintiff Mt. Mitchell Foods that new packer is Petipet, specializing in dog treats which are less regulated. archive.org/details/2025...

Is Taix going to replace the backlit plastic blade sign that melted yesterday? citizen.com/-O_4l1A_psAp... If so, we hope they'll go back to the design captured by Ed Ruscha in 1990. Love the font... and Les Freres!

Had a blast on the Franklin Village Old Hollywood tour visiting the folk art Tombstone town under the 101, talking of the 1940s murder spree that inspired Jack Webb's and Ray Bradbury's early storytelling. If you missed this tour, we'll do it again in 2026.

It feels like a bad omen: waiters watch the Taix sign as it burns and melts. citizen.com/-O_4l1A_psAp... You can't report the damaged landmark to the city, as Mitch O'Farrell selectively designated random parts of the building to aid the developer's demo. esotouric.substack.com/p/letstalktaix

Today! Join us at Vedanta Temple, where Christopher Isherwood found enlightenment, for a Franklin Village Old Hollywood walk packed with beauty and horror, mystery and marvels. Get your steps in, make new friends, get your mind blown before a late lunch. esotouric.com/event/frankl...

Preservation pal Damian Sullivan keeps showing up for his beloved Glendale Sears, and last night things finally went the right way for locals who care about heritage and keeping part of a cool building that just needs a little love to be glorious again! www.youtube.com/live/TJBZvwI...

So SB79 passed the Senate... now what? In Los Angeles, little will change. Permits have dried up. Hoarded blocks of vacant buildings are going back to their lenders. Angelenos are wise to the scams of politicians who hold power by perpetuating blight. Have faith and fight on!

LAist asked us what's up with the vanished Sunset Boulevard Arby’s sign. We've been digging, as has preservation pal Damian Sullivan, and while corporate won't confirm, restoration is happening, for a new home at another So. Cal Arby's... likely Ontario! laist.com/news/iconic-...

When ASU absorbed FIDM, we fretted about the fate of the costumes from the failed Hollywood Museum Collection. Rec and Parks Commission takes the matter up on 9/18 ens.lacity.org/rap/agenda/r... and the appraisal report is a must read for Dietrich lovers. www.laparks.org/sites/defaul...

David Lynch's Hollywood Hills Lloyd and Eric Wright compound is on the market for $15 Million, and while it's likely to get carved up and flipped back into into multiple parcels, we think it would make a swell arts residency retreat. www.zillow.com/homedetails/...

Saturday, on the Franklin Village Old Hollywood tour, get a rare peep inside Joe Gillis' "Sunset Boulevard" pad, the magnificent Chateau Alto Nido, a perfect spot to work on your screenplay and muse on letting a batty broad pay your bills. A 1930 RSO gem! esotouric.com/event/frankl...

Preservation pals in Pasadena/Alhambra & Torrance/San Pedro especially needed to call your state senator NOW and urge a NO vote on SB79, an undemocratic bill that would doom all new landmarks if an owner wants to demolish--w/no requirement to ever build. mailchi.mp/californiapr...

It is a choice to live in a post truth world, or in reality. Californians know their communities and they know what works and what doesn't. The political racketeers who create crises to "solve" them for their donors are in it for the money. If you're in it for love, stand tall.

In 1930s Los Angeles, a few brave souls took on the rackets the press covered up because media owners had grown rich putting their thumbs on the scale. Raymond Chandler wasn't that courageous, so he hid his protest as fiction. It's happening right now, too. Which side are YOU on?

File under: Empty Los Angeles. The El Nido Hotel at 1042 N Wilcox contains 38 RSO units. It is completely vacant and can be yours for $5.2M--more than $2M more than it sold for last year with 15 tenants. www.compass.com/listing/1042... The depravity of Scott Wiener pushing #SB79 on LA.

File under: Empty Los Angeles. 5418 Franklin Avenue is a cute 6-unit 1920s/1950s complex with two family sized 3 bedroom units, on the market for $1.8M. It is 50% vacant, like too many rent stabilized buildings in walkable Los Angeles neighborhoods. www.loopnet.com/Listing/5418...

Want to see a barfly cry? Go tell him that the Broadway Social Center Pool Hall & Bar in the Federal Bank Building at 2205 N Broadway, Lincoln Heights is now listed for sale or lease, with marketing lingo touting potential for a fresh new concept. www.loopnet.com/Listing/2205...

Rumors started spreading in late July esotouric.substack.com/pantry At a press event this morning, it was announced the Original Pantry will reopen on December 31. Thanks, KNX, for getting the straight scoop! www.audacy.com/knxnews/news...

One of the oldest queer bars in America, THE SILVER PLATTER faces eviction for a speculative development based on false claims rubber stamped by the L.A. City Planning Department. Now one of the 2025 most endangered Latinx landmarks... can it be saved? esotouric.substack.com/silverplatter

Join us on September 20 for Film Noir / Real Noir, as we seek out the ghosts of tough dames and doomed marks, shadowy alleys and decaying Victorian mansions, on a moody then and now film locations and true crime Downtown L.A. walking tour. esotouric.com/event/film-n...